Unplanned carpeting of roads causing problems

6 Mar

Ludhian: The unplanned carpeting of roads over and over again has raised their level to the extent that rainwater easily finds its way into the houses located on such stretches.

The municipal corporation (MC) staff has been carrying out the carpeting work without removing the old layers in many parts of the city. People residing in old houses in Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar, Rani Jhansi Road and on the road leading to the Police Lines have to bear its brunt as the entrance to their houses is now situated below the road level.

Gaganpreet Singh, a resident of BRS Nagar, said “The carpeting of some stretches of roads has been left midway. The increased level of roads is creating problems for us. Now, we will have to get the level of our house raised to avoid water logging.”

Barring some areas, such as Model Town and on the road near Bhai Chatar Singh Park, the carpeting has been done without removing the old layer. Many residents of the old city areas, including Field Ganj, Jawaddi and Bhola Colony, have spent money from their own pockets to get their houses repaired to avoid water logging.

Several residents got imbalanced and in a near situation to meet with an accident regularly due to faulty manholes. The report regarding these faulty manholes was highlighted earlier and also under the knowledge of executive engineer of Zone D but nothing has been done to resolve the problem.

Some of the manholes have turned to potholes. As many cases, commuters lose balance on their vehicle, as these potholes can’t be judged easily on the carpeted roads, causing accidents.

Moreover, in rainy days, commuters are unable to judge the manholes situated on roads due to rain water gets collected. Many of the commuters often meet with accidents due to this problem.

“The MC should remove the old layers before carpeting the roads again. While the level of roads is rising, that of houses is going down,” said Harnek Singh city resident.

Singh said it was not the fault of the contractor but the MC officials, as they were responsible for ensuring that proper work was being carried out. “The civic body must take required steps, so that residents don’t have to suffer,” he said.

An MC official, requesting anonymity, said “The residents’ concern is right as old layers should be removed before carpeting any road again. As the estimates for carpeting did not include the removal of old layers, the new material is laid on the old layers. The cost of removing the old layers is high.”

Despite repeated attempts MC Commissioner was not available for comments.